Chapter 1 ___ Prologue

|| ELINDA'S POV || 

" You look stunning, Elinda. I envy you! You got everything that you wanted. A good grade..A FUCKING hot boyfriend..hmm.."

My best friend, Kiana threw her arms at me. She was most likely half-drunk. I smiled back at her before grabbing onto her. She was stumbling but the words that came out of her mouth were sincere. Kiana and I had been best friends since our childhood. The other people in my small party were most likely closest to Leonid.

Yes...my perfect boyfriend.

The thought of him annoyed me and pleased me at the same time. The positive fact was that he was the perfect boyfriend that one could ever ask for. Rather than that, it came as the best gift from the moon goddess to me that he had turned out to be my mate, my one true fated mate. What could I ask as a present more than this on my 18th birthday?

The annoying part was that Alexis was taking too much time to arrive at my party. It surprised me since he was never late anywhere. Even on our dates or hangouts, he was always the person who arrived on time. I was the one who usually went late. But some of my friends assumed that he was late probably because he was busy buying my gifts. Even the thought of him made me smile.

Alexis and I had been dating for three years. We started our relationship when I was only fifteen. I didn't know what the relationship was unless we shared a kiss on my 17th birthday. I was hell nervous about my 18th birthday since it was the age of finding my soul mate. I didn't want to find my soulmate and leave Leonid like trash being used and then dropped down. But I guessed that the Moon Goddess had her mercy on me and Leonid turned out to be my soulmate.

Bella, another friend of our group came to me with the whiskey in her hand, her eyes following my gaze lingering on the gate,

" Still no sign of coming? Oh, come on, Elinda. If you are going to wait for him any longer, you might end up having no one but him to cut your birthday cake."

I shot a look at my guests. They were already worn out after drinking too much wine. The clock on the painted wall stopped at midnight It was considerably late but I didn't want to celebrate my birthday without my mate. I booked a small resort for the celebration. My foster parents weren't so rich but I was grateful for everything that they bestowed on me. They were both doctors in different packs and gave their best to make me happy. Before today, I was never allowed to stay outside so late. Since I had a mate now, they gave me a little freedom.

I apologized to Bella for the fifth time, hoping that they would understand my emotions,

" Half an hour, please..You know, I can't miss Alexis on my birthday?"

Bella gave me a small smile before she went to entertain our other friends. I let out a heavy sigh and twirled with the sunflower dress that I picked on. Alexis said that I was still acting like a child even though I was 18. I was still looking in the direction of the road when a phone call interrupted my thoughts. It was from my mother who was probably calling me to remind me to be safe. I picked up the call and moved to a quiet corner,

" Hello, mom."

My mother's sweet voice came through the speaker, the sound of beeping inducing that she was still in the hospital,

" Hey, sweetheart. I didn't want to disturb you but please tell Leonid to drop you home. I don't want you to go back home at this late hour alone."

I smiled warmly, relieved to know that she had begun to trust Leonid. I couldn't blame her since Alexis had a bad impression on others. Everyone called him an ' introvert ' since he didn't talk with others much and barely had any close friends. His cold character stood him out as an alien from others.

We exchanged a few words before my mom ended the call. The sound of a car honking pulled me out of my attention on the phone. A big smile plastered on my lips when I saw the SUV stopping at the resort gate. One thing..I forgot to mention that my perfect boyfriend was damn rich.

I never saw his family in Costa Rica. Even Alexis refused to tell me the details of them. It was more like they liked to live a secret life. I didn't brag anymore since it was Leonid whom I wanted to be with. Alexis owned a fucking big mansion in the town. He lived alone in the mansion and I had secretly gone there a few times to have our sex. His SUV and his Rolex watches all proved the fact that my boyfriend was filthy rich. Some even told me that I won a jackpot but fucking hell..I didn't even know about his lifestyle before I dated him.

The car door opened with a creak, and a pair of black boots stepped out. I saw his tall, magnificent figure coming out of the SUV like a magazine model. Unlike his regular time, he looked a little disheveled. Even his blank expression left me confused. Instead of wearing the matching suit that I bought for him, he was wearing a plain white T-shirt, and a black coat hanging on his left arm.

Subconsciously, I searched for flowers in his hands but there was nothing. Flowers were my favourite and there wasn't a single occasion that he didn't bring flowers to me. Still, I made my way to him, hoping that all my suspensions were wrong,

" Alex...We have been waiting for hours. Where were you? I was missing you, baby."

His blue eyes held mine as he grew stiff as soon as I hugged him. To my surprise, he didn't hug me back and stood still like an immovable statue. I released him from my arms and looked up to search for his eyes,

" What's wrong? You look...off.."

He didn't smile or wish me a ' happy birthday '. It was the first time that Alexis was acting cold to me. It was already aching my heart but I waited for his explanation. Alexis swallowed hard, his gaze looking down at me. He whispered lowly, taking all the strength away from my body,

" Darya...we...we can't do this anymore.."

A red flag waved at the back of my mind. Still, I shoved it aside since I trusted Leonid more than myself. I whispered back, my heart thumping so loud that I couldn't hear my friends cheering in the background,

" What...do you mean, Leo? Did I do something to piss you off? Did I do something to anger you? Don't you want to celebrate my birthday?"

He squeezed his eyes shut, his teeth sinking into his bottom lip as if he were holding himself back. After a long pause, he stepped away from me, his eyes darkening and slowly turning yellow. Leonid was an Alpha by blood. I couldn't understand why he was inviting his wolf on the surface.

With a low growl, his Alpha voice began to speak to me, sounding rough and guttural,

" I, SON OF ALPHA ALENSO, REJECT YOU, DARYA WATSON AS MY MATE. FROM THIS ONWARD, WE WILL HAVE NO BOND."

A piercing howls tore off my chest. My knees sank to the ground with a wail of pain. I held my heart with one hand and cried out, tears streaming down from my eyes,

" WHY? Just once..tell me...Why?"